Eagles Howie Roseman Got It Right Two Years Ago
Make one mistake, and it's hung around your neck to wear for eternity. Howie Roseman knows that. The Eagles general manager continues to wear the mistake he made in the 2020 NFL Draft, selecting Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson.
Never mind that Roseman has made up for it many times over, taking DeVonta Smith a year later in the 2021 draft and trading for A.J. Brown two years after that. And never mind that he built two rosters in three years that went to Super Bowls, winning one of them.
The furor over taking Reagor over Jefferson may not be as vociferous as it was, but it's still there. Every spring, the mistake is revisited, and like the ring Frodo carried throughout Mordor in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, it probably gets heavy.
Roseman will probably never live down that he took Reagor, with the 21 st overall pick and who will be on his fourth team in four straight seasons, over Jefferson, who the Vikings nabbed with the 22nd pick and is a receiver building a Hall of Fame resume.
That's OK, because Roseman has gotten plenty right, and not just at the receiver position since passing on Jefferson.
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Look no further than 2024, when he had a choice between Quinyon Mitchell and Terrion Arnold. Many thought Arnold made sense, including me. Arnold was from Alabama, a school Roseman had developed a crush on.
In addition to Smith, he drafted Landon Dickerson in 2021 from Alabama, then Tyler Steen in 2023. In 2022, he brought in the Tide's Josh Jobe as an undrafted free agent. In 2023, it was another Bama UDFA, Eli Ricks.
Arnold made a lot of sense over the small-school Mitchell, who toiled for Toledo in the Mid-American Conference while Arnold made his bones in the SEC. In fairness, Alabama wanted Mitchell to hit the transfer portal, but Mitchell's allegiance to the Rockets never wavered.
Perhaps, though, there were red flags off the field for Arnold, who was charged in Florida on Thursday with leading a plot to detain and pistol-whip three people whom he had believed had stolen from him.
Per a story on NFL.com, three men in their late teens were held at gunpoint, battered, pistol-whipped and robbed in a Tampa apartment on Feb. 4, police said, three days after personal property worth more than $250,000 was reported stolen from Arnold and others at an Airbnb rental in Largo, about 20 miles west of the city.
Arnold will remain in jail until at least Monday when a detention hearing happens. The crimes could carry a life sentence.
He is the Lions' problem, however, after they took him with the 24th overall pick in 2024. Roseman selected Mitchell 22nd overall.
Off the field, Mitchell likes to keep to himself. There has never been a hint of an issue. On the field, he is better than Arnold.
Mitchell has started 32 games in his two seasons. He finished only behind Jared Verse in AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting; Arnold was 15th in the same balloting. Last year, Mitchell was a first-team All-Pro; Arnold played eight games, with a concussion and a torn shoulder that required surgery cutting back his playing time.
Roseman made the right call two years ago and has made a lot of them during what has been a potential Hall of Fame-carving stretch for him. It's just that mistakes linger more than they probably should.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as Eagles Howie Roseman Got It Right Two Years Ago.
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This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 6:10 PM.